Lucien sighed. “Just around the corner?”
“Yes,” said Sawyer.
“Okay, I’ll come and look, but only for a second. I can’t help you fix it. What I can do is tell you who you need to go to in order to get it fixed.”
“Okay,” said Sawyer, inwardly fuming. This wasn’t working at all. But the important thing was just to try to get Lucien away from the opening.
Sawyer led the engineering muse around the corner.
There he had a bicycle, upended so that its wheels were in the air. Bicycles weren’t common in Helicon, but they sometimes ended up there, generally brought over from trips into the mundane world on cross-quarter days. Sawyer wouldn’t say that muses stole the bicycles exactly, but they may have taken some old rusty ones and repaired them in Helicon. The thinking was that no one would have made a bicycle in the mundane world if it hadn’t been for an inspiration thread that had come from the muses in the first place.
Anyway, no one rode them much, except occasionally around the tweens and rebels enclave for fun. Sawyer knew how they worked pretty well, and he had deliberately sabotaged this one in a way that shouldn’t be difficult to fix. He had just removed the chain from the spokes on the wheels.
But he acted as if he had no idea what was going on with it. “It doesn’t work anymore,” he said. He made a pathetic face.
“Why are you bringing this to us?” Lucien said.
“I wasn’t,” Sawyer said. “I was bringing it to Daryl.”
He rolled his eyes. “But you thought Daryl was an engineering muse.”
“Well, yeah…” Sawyer did his best to look as stupid as he possibly could. “Can’t you fix it?” Once again, he thought Maddie would be doing a much better job at this. She would have been at least somewhat appealing to Lucien. Lucien probably thought Sawyer was just… weird.
“I don’t have the faintest idea what’s wrong with it.”
Sawyer smiled at him. “Well, I’m sure you can figure that out. Give it a look. I bet you’re really good at that kind of thing.”
He didn’t think the compliment was going to work very well to butter Lucien up. And the worst part of everything was, from this vantage point, where the bicycle was hidden, he couldn’t see the opening to the tent anymore. So he had no idea if Agler had actually gotten in. And, he would have no idea if Agler had actually gotten out.
This was all going very very badly.
Lucien shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe if you hang around here for a little bit, someone else will come by who could help. Otherwise, I would say go to Coeus’s tent and ask him if he’s got anyone he could put on the job for you.”
“But you’re right here,” Sawyer said.
“I told you, kid, I’m a guard.” Lucien turned to walk back around the corner. “Sorry I wasn’t more help,” he threw over his shoulder.
Sawyer grabbed Lucien. He couldn’t let him go back there. “Wait.”
Lucien shook him off. “What’s your problem?”
“It’s really important that I get this fixed,” Sawyer said.
“Like I said, I can’t help you.” Lucien started back towards the opening front of the tent. This time he was even more irritated.
Sawyer swore under his breath. He hurried forward and jammed himself in front of Lucien, blocking his path. “I can’t let you do that.”
“Why not?”
Sawyer scrambled for something to say. “Because… because… there’s something in there.”
Great. Why had he said that?
“What do you mean, ‘There’s something in there’?” Lucien was trying to move around Sawyer.
Sawyer was dancing, weaving back and forth and blocking Lucien’s movements. “I don’t even know why I said that. Maybe there’s nothing in there. I thought I heard something.”
“If you heard something,” Lucien said. “Then I better go and look. I’m the guard, after all.”
“No, you can’t do that. I think it’s dangerous.”
Lucien took Sawyer by the shoulders and forcibly moved him out of the way.
Sawyer swore under his breath again. This was going really, really badly.
Lucien strode toward the opening of the tents, intent on his purpose.
Sawyer hurried after him. “I really don’t think you should go in there. I definitely don’t.”
“Yeah, I hear you, kid. I don’t know what you’re up to. But whatever it is, I’m going to figure it out.”
“I’m not up to anything,” Sawyer said. He tried to laugh. It came out sounding strangled.
Lucien was inside the tent.
No.
Sawyer went after him. “Look, maybe if you come outside for a minute, we could talk about this, and—”
“Shut up.” Lucien glared at him. He was scanning the inside of the tent, looking everywhere.
The tent was empty. There was a table in the middle, and all around on the sides were stacks of labeled drawers. The drawers contain hammers, nails, bolts, hinges, and all manner of things that could be used for putting things together.
Lucien turned to Sawyer. “Nothing’s in here.”
Sawyer was glad of that. Agler must’ve made it out somehow. Or else, Agler had never made it in. He didn’t know which.
Lucien narrowed his eyes. “Hey, aren’t you one of the kids that stole the dimension device before? I think I remember it was you. You’re the guy who was confused about whether or not he’s a girl or boy.”
Sawyer clenched his teeth. “I prefer the term androgyne.”
“Whatever.” Lucien stalked to the back of the tent. He unlocked a drawer and looked inside.
Sawyer’s heartbeat doubled. This was it. Lucien was going to realize that the dimension device was stolen, and they were going to be in so much trouble.
Or else, the dimension device would be there, but that would mean that they’d have to start all over again. And he wasn’t going to be able to be the distraction again. How were they going to get in and get the dimension device?
Lucien closed the drawer. “Hmm. That’s odd. It doesn’t seem like anything’s out of place.” He turned to look at Sawyer. “You really here about your bicycle?”
Sawyer nodded. “I really am.”
Lucien sighed. “I think it’s the chain. Give me a second, and I’ll fix it for you. I need a tool.” He grabbed something out of one of the drawers and headed out of the tent.
Sawyer let out a long, slow breath. What had just happened? He followed Lucien out.
On his way out the door, he saw Agler slip in.
So Agler hadn’t even been inside a tent, yet? Man. Sawyer’d had a heart attack for nothing.
Sawyer went back outside. Lucien was kneeling next to the bike, working on it. It only took him a few minutes, but he got the chain back on the spokes and then set the bike upright. He rolled it back and forth. “Seems like it’s working now?”
Sawyer took the handlebars cautiously. “Let me see...”
Had that been enough time? Was Agler out of there?
Sawyer looked up over Lucien’s shoulder to see Agler at the edge of the tent. Agler gave Sawyer a surreptitious thumbs up.
Sawyer sagged in relief. “Yes, it’s great. Thanks for fixing my bicycle. Thank you so much.”
* * *
“So, I’ve been thinking about the play,” Owen said, sitting down next to Nora on a bench by the tweens and rebels fire pit. They spent most of their time here. Nora made sure that he usually had a drink in his hand. She seemed to always want him drunk. Owen wasn’t sure why that was, but he didn’t mind. He kind of enjoyed having her serve him. He liked being waited on by a beautiful woman who couldn’t seem to get enough of him.
Right now, Nora had a rum swizzle, and she’d gotten Owen a gin sour. “You were thinking of the play?” She smiled at him, looking pleasantly surprised.
“Yes, I was.”
“Well, that’s great. I really think we would have fun. I know you said that you didn’t want
to do it—”
“I still don’t want to do it,” he said. “In fact, I’m not going to do it. But, here’s what I’m thinking. You are going to do it.”
She drew back. “I am?”
He nodded. “You owe me. Remember?”
“I guess so,” she said slowly. She lifted her chin. “So you really want to get rid of me, do you?”
“I didn’t say that.” He laughed.
He hadn’t wanted to resort to this tactic, but things were getting out of control. He didn’t ever have the time to get anything accomplished. She was always in his face. If he couldn’t get rid of her, at least for a little bit, he might do something drastic. He didn’t want to hurt Nora.
There were lots of reasons why he didn’t want to hurt her. The main one, of course, was that it would jeopardize his position here in Helicon, and that would ruin all his plans.
But there was another reason, a niggling reason underneath everything. It was a feeling that was something similar to the obsession he used to have for her, the obsession had been caused by the spell. But… this wasn’t the obsession, not exactly.
He suppose that he cared about Nora.
That didn’t mean that he wouldn’t hurt her if he had to. But he didn’t want to. Anyway, he didn’t think it would come to that. No, it definitely wouldn’t come to that, because he was going to make sure that things worked out in his favor, before he lost his temper. He would hate to think that he did something radical just because he was angry. But he did have a temper…
Nora was staring at him, a thoughtful expression on her face. “What is this about, Owen?”
“About?” He smiled at her. “I just think you should have some fun, that’s all.”
“You’re trying to get me away from you,” she said. “Why?”
“That’s ridiculous,” he said. “You know that I absolutely adore you, Nora. If I could spend every second of every waking moment of my life near you, I would. But I understand that it’s unhealthy for people to spend too much time together. Even people who are in love need to pursue their own separate interests. So, you should be in the play.”
She shook her head. “While that’s a very noble sentiment, I know you. You never do anything because you want to help someone else. You only do things that help yourself in some way. So how does this help you?”
He laughed again. “You sound paranoid, darling.”
“Do I really?”
“Why do you care so much?” he said. “Why is it that you want to be near me every single second of every day?”
She flinched a little. “I never said that. I guess I’m just hurt is all.”
She was no such thing. He glared at her.
“It feels to me like you’re sending me away,” she said. She stuck out her lower lip. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Do the play, Nora,” Owen said. “You owe me.”
* * *
Maddie was glad that they had gotten the dimension device. Even though she had to deal with the fact that Sawyer kept complaining about how terrible he had been at the distraction job, she knew he couldn’t have been that terrible, or else it wouldn’t have worked.
After much discussion, they decided they would go to the fairy dimension early the next morning. Early morning seemed like a good time, because no one was ever awake early in the tweens and rebels enclave, and it would be easy for them to all walk out together into the woods without being detected. They wanted to leave as soon as possible because they weren’t sure how long it would be until the missing dimension device was noticed.
Last year, they’d made a dummy device to leave in its place when they had stolen one at the Harvest Ball. It would have been handy to have, to leave in place of the real dimension device, so that no one would know it was missing. However, Phoebe had confiscated that fake one, and they didn’t know where it was.
Maddie got up before everybody else and headed down to the food enclave to brew some coffee. She delivered it to Agler, who was grateful, and then the both of them went to Sawyer and Lute. They were also happy to have the coffee.
Together the four of them headed for the forest, sipping their coffee and blinking away their bleary, sleepy eyes.
In the distance, the sun was struggling into the sky.
Maddie let Sawyer run the dimension device. He had the most experience with it. Maddie had accidentally used it once, back years ago, but she never really been quite sure how she made it work at all. That time, she’d ended up in Avalon.
Sawyer twisted dials on the device and then told them all that they needed to join hands. They did so, and then Sawyer hit a button on the device. Maddie felt as if an iron vise had reached into her body, closed over her spinal cord, and was now dragging her through time and space at a frenzied speed. She would have screamed, but she was moving too fast to breathe.
Abruptly, the motion stopped.
Recovering, Maddie opened her eyes. They were standing in the fairy dimension.
She had never seen anything quite like it. Everything around her seemed to sparkle. Though the area was essentially natural—tree branches, grass, moss, and other foliage—it appeared magical and mystical. The tree branches were woven into elaborate towers and houses. The air seemed to sparkle. Everything had an almost regal air to it.
But before Maddie had much time to look around and admire the surroundings, a voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Intruders!” yelled a voice.
Maddie and the others looked up to see that fairies were hurtling down out of the trees, surrounding them.
“Where did you come from?” demanded one.
“Put your hands in the air,” ordered another.
Maddie whispered furiously said Agler. “Don’t they recognize you? You lived here for months.”
“I don’t think so, because I don’t recognize them,” Agler said. “The fairy dimension is kind of large. Maybe we hopped into part of it that I’ve never been to. I can’t say that I recognize anything…”
“Stop talking,” said one of the fairies.
Before they could do anything, the fairies had surged forward and they were lashing all of their hands together with tight golden rope.
“Off to the dungeons with you for questioning,” one of the fairies said.
“Do something,” Maddie said to Agler.
Agler cleared his throat. “I’m Agler Thorn, and I am a friend to the fairies. Please, we mean you no harm.”
“Tell it to the inquisitor,” one of the fairies responded.
They were unceremoniously marched through the forest. If they lagged, the fairies poked them with glittering, sharp spears.
Maddie looked all around, but all she could see were angry fairy faces—pointed ears and green-tinged skin. This was ridiculous. They were never going to get answers this way. There would be lucky to even get back to Helicon. No one knew where they were. Since they had taken the dimension device, the muses in Helicon might be able to infer that they’d gone to another realm. And it wasn’t as if the other dimension device wasn’t still in Helicon, so they could possibly follow them, unlike other times they got themselves caught in other realms. However, no one would have any idea where they had gone. Maddie had no idea how many dimensions were out there, or all the ways the dimension device could be manipulated. But she knew rescue was unlikely.
No, they were going to have to figure out a way to get out of this on their own.
Then, amongst the angry faces, she spotted someone who didn’t quite look like a fairy. A familiar face, in fact.
“Roth!” she exclaimed. “Help us!”
Roth was pushing his way through the throng of fairies. He was their friend, a half-muse, the son of Mack and a fairy. They hadn’t seen him for two years, but that was only because he came to Helicon to stay with his father only every three years. He’d come with them to Valhalla. If anyone could vouch for them, hopefully it would be him.
“Hey, hey,” Roth said. “I know these guys. The
y’re muses.”
Maddie felt the spears that were in her back be pulled away.
“Muses?”
“Well, they don’t look like muses.”
“We’re muses,” Agler said. “I’ve been here. I spent months here as part of an exchange.”
“You mean they’re not a danger?” The fairy who said this sounded a little disappointed.
“We can’t take them prisoner?” said another, also sounding similarly disappointed.
“Let them go,” Roth said.
Sighing and muttering swear words under their breaths, the fairies untied them. Then, sulking, they all slunk away, leaving the muses alone with Roth.
Roth shrugged. “Sorry about that. Those guys are kind of bloodthirsty. They really get off on hurting people.”
“Hurting people?” Maddie said. “I thought the fairies were nice.”
Roth shrugged. “Nice? Fairies are generally pretty—beautifully terrible—in fact. But nice? Not so much. What are you guys doing here? And how did you get here?”
“We used the dimension device, of course,” Agler said.
“I’m guessing you guys didn’t come here to visit me?” Roth said.
Sawyer shook his head. “Sorry. We’re here because of Nora.”
“Yeah, I noticed she wasn’t with you,” Roth said. He pointed at Sawyer. “You two are always attached at the hip.”
“Right,” Sawyer said. “About that…”
Roth turned to face Lute. “Hi there. I’m Roth. I don’t think I’ve met you before.”
“Lute,” Lute said.
“Lute’s my boyfriend,” Sawyer said.
Roth drew his eyebrows together.
“So you and Nora? That’s over?”
“It’s a long story,” Sawyer said.
“Sawyer realized he was gay,” Maddie said.
“Or not so long,” Sawyer said.
“So, where is Nora?” Roth said.
“Well, that’s why we’re here,” Agler said. “You see, Nora went into the mundane world last year to do something with Owen. Do you know about Owen?”
“You guys were convinced that he was the person who was causing the sickness in Helicon a few years back,” Roth said. “Never met the guy, but, from what I hear, he’s bad news.”
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